By Andrew Warshaw in Manchester
March 2 – Manchester United chief executive David Gill (pictured) insisted Wednesday that the club’s controversial American owners would remain in control long-term despite a growing protest movement to force them out.
Breaking his silence over the campaign to oust the Glazer family – owners of United for the last five years – Gill said there was no chance of them bowing to pressure from a group of wealthy supporters known as the “Red Knights” who are planning to raise more than 1 billion pounds to buy England’s most globally popular team.
Speaking at the eagerly awaited final session of the Soccerex conference in Manchester, Gill said the growing fervour to take over from the Glazers, who bought the club against a wave of opposition from fans who feared they were loading it up with too much debt, would be strongly resisted.
“The owners are long-term owners,” said Gill. “They have shown this with their ownership of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. They are not sellers. Some people are not happy with what’s going on and would like to change it but the vast majority of the fans should be comfortable with what we are doing in pushing the club forward and remaining at the top of European and world football.”
Gill refused to take questions from the floor during a 30-minute grilling about United’s finances.
But launching a passionate defence of the increasingly under-fire Glazers, he continued: “They may not come to many games but they are passionate about the club. They understand sport and what is required to run a successful sports team.”
“There are many examples of owners who have tried to come in and run clubs, to pick the team and be very visible. They are not there to do that. They have not interfered. They have a fantastic manager in Alex Ferguson and they realise that in order to get the most out of the asset, they know they need to leave those people there. Their lack of attendance at games should not be interpreted that they are not passionate.”
More than 20,000 Manchester United fans have joined the campaign to force the Glazers out. Manchester United Supporters Trust (MUST) are backing a move by the “Red Knights” but Gill repeated they were wasting their time.
“People like these Red Knights may come and put a plan to the owners but unless the owners want to sell – and they have given no notification that this is the case – then the asset is not for sale.”
The Glazers launched a bond issue last month to raise 500 million pounds in a bid to re-align their debts. Gill, who refused to take questions from the floor, said Manchester United’s debts, reported to be about 716.5 million pounds, were easily sustainable.
“Yes we have element of debt but football is getting bigger all the time,” he said. “We’ve replaced bank debts with a seven-year bond repayable in 2017. We have fixed the interest payments at 45m pounds per year. We have to be very pleased with that. We think we have much more appropriate financial structure in place.”
Gill admitted he was originally opposed to the Glazers taking over in 2005 but said the structure of the club had changed. “In September 2004 we decided as a board that the level of debt they were proposing and the business plan underpinning that debt was too aggressive. We were public in our opposition but they revisited the plans culminating in the takeover. We can live with the current structure and our financial results demonstrate that clearly. In an ideal world would people like not to have a mortgage? Probably yes. That doesn’t mean they can’t afford their house or enjoy the benefits.”
Before finishing his 30-minute adddress, Gill took the opportunity to attack English football’s number one dealmaker Keith Harris, chairman of investment bank Seymour Pearce and the mouthpiece of the Red Knights group. Harris has attempted to mastermind a series of takeovers among English clubs – including Manchester City and Newcastle — with mixed success.
“Keith Harris will go anywhere if there is publicity around, we know that,” said Gill. “That’s his modus operandi. But if you look at his track record in football, it’s nothing to write home about. That’s my view.
“From our perspective the owners are running the club in the right way. If I look at the Red Knights proposal, the idea of having 20, 30, 40 people owning and running Manchester United, I just don’t know how it would work. The better owned clubs are ones with clear, single, efficient decision making.
At the key clubs — Abramovich at Chelsea, Mansoor at Manchester City, Berlusconi at Milan — the president is the key decision maker, not the fans.”
“From our perspective, we have a stability and structure in place that is good news for Manchester United.”
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